This invention relates to network access systems. Network access systems are widely used to connect external computers to wide area computer networks, such as the Internet, through dedicated interfaces and dial-up connections. More particularly, this invention relates to network access systems which, in addition to connecting external computers to wide area computer networks, distribute bulletins, such as advertisements, to the external computers.
In recent years, wide area computer networks such as the Internet have experienced an explosion in popularity. Not surprisingly, with this popularity, there has been a concentrated effort by businesses to use these networks to promote business and improve revenues. One example of where this effort can be clearly seen is the posting of advertisements by businesses in newsgroups and in World Wide Web pages.
In known systems, these advertisements are broadcast to external computers by individual remote information servers located throughout a wide area computer network. When an external computer connects to a remote information server and accesses a newsgroup or Web page comprising an advertisement, the advertisement is broadcast from the remote information server through the network and the network access system to the external computer. In many instances, these remote information servers will broadcast the same information and advertisements to external computers regardless of the geographic location of the network access systems through which the external computers are gaining access to the network. For example, an external computer accessing a World Wide Web site in New Jersey through a network access system in New York will receive an identical advertisement to that received by an external computer accessing the same site through a network access system in Australia.
In an effort to optimally target the users of external computers with the most suitable bulletins, some remote information servers have been configured to determine the identity of each user accessing the servers, monitor the information retrieved by the users, and develop a profile for those users. In some instances, these remote information servers independently maintain the profiles for each user, and in other instances, the remote information servers jointly maintain the profiles for each user to obtain a higher degree of accuracy in the profiles. In this way, these servers can categorize the interests of the users and, therefore, send the users the most appropriate bulletins. For example, a user who has been identified in the past as repeatedly accessing information on travel--and, therefore, a user for whom a profile has been developed which indicates that the user likes to travel--would likely be targeted with bulletins relating to vacation destinations or airfare specials.
One way these servers identify users is through the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the users' computers. Primarily, IP addresses are used in wide area computer networks to direct messages between different devices attached to the network. For example, when a remote information server sends information to a user's computer, the remote information server attaches the IP address of the user's computer to the information in order to direct the information through the network from the remote information server to the user's computer--much like placing a label on an envelope and mailing it from the remote information server to the user's computer. In cases where a computer's IP address is always the same and only one person uses the computer, an IP address can be an effective way to identify a user accessing a remote information server.
Another way these remote information servers identify users is through log-in information requested from the users when the users attempt to access information on the servers. For example, the first time a user accesses a remote information server, the user may be prompted for a log-in name, a password, an address, a telephone number, an occupation, an age, a gender, etc. During subsequent attempts to access information on the remote information server, the user may be required to re-enter the log-in name and password. Once this information has been entered, the user is permitted to access information on the server. Using the log-in information, the remote information server can then identify the user to create a user profile. Furthermore, this log-in information can also be used to contribute to the user's profile in addition to identifying the user. As long as the information entered by each user in response to the log-in prompts is accurate and consistent, log-in information can also be an effective way to identify and target external computer users.
Sending an advertisement from a remote information server in a wide area computer network, however, may be inefficient or ineffective in at least five respects. First, the advertisement only reaches its intended audience if members of that audience access the remote information server on which the advertisement is stored.
Second, the advertiser must continually identify and advertise on the servers containing the most popular newsgroups and Web pages of the targeted audience to keep up with their interests.
Third, remote information servers have a limited ability to accurately identify the users accessing the remote information servers because many known network access systems dynamically allocate different IP addresses to the same external computers and because many users give inconsistent, or even false, responses to log-in information requests.
Fourth, advertising on remote information servers that serve all of the users of a wide area computer network forces advertisers to advertise at the global level of the wide area computer network rather than at a local or regional level within that network.
Fifth, because advertising revenues are not being received by the providers of access to the network, advertisers are unable to offset the costs to the users associated with accessing the wide area computer network and thereby increase the number of users viewing their advertisements as is done in other advertising media such as television, radio, and newspaper.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a network access system that can effectively deliver bulletins to users of external computers while connecting them to wide area computer networks.
It would be also desirable to provide a network access system which can deliver bulletins to all users of the network access system regardless of the particular remote information servers which they access.
It would be further desirable to provide a network access system that can accurately identify the user of an external computer and, therefore, optimally match available advertising to the user's likes and dislikes.
It would be even further desirable to provide a network access system that allows advertisers to advertise at a local or regional level within a wide area computer network rather than requiring the advertisers to advertise at the global level of the network.
It would be still further desirable to provide a network access system that allows advertisers to offset the costs associated with accessing wide area computer networks, and thereby increase the number of users viewing their advertisements, as is done in other advertising media such as television, radio, and newspaper.